Windmill-lubricating system



Aug. Ml, 923.

IF. RlTZ WINDMILL LUBRICATING SYSTEM Filed NOV 26. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. M, 1923. Lll-KSZ F. RITZ WINDMILL LUBRICATING SYSTEM Filed NOV. 26 1921 2 Sheets-Shea?. 2

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UNT STA@ FREDERICK RJITZ, 0F NAPOLEON, OHIO.

WINDMILL-LUBRICATING SYSTEM.

application mea november as, 19er. serial No. 517,943.

To all 'whom t may concern."

Be it known that I, FREDERICK RITZ., a citizen of the United States, residing at Napoleon, in the county of Henry and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Windmill- Lubricating Systems; and I, do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap rtains to make and use the same.

This invention relates particularly to means for automatically lubricating the meclhanism carried by the head of a wind mil The objects of the invention are to simplify the lubrication of the operative parts carried on a wind mill head and to improve the construction of lubricating devices for this purpose. The invention consists inthe means more specifically described hereinafter, illustrated in the drawings and defined in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the operating mechanism of a windmill, parts of the same being broken away andillustrated in cross section, and

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the mecha-- nism for a windmill, parts of the same being broken away and illustrated in cross section.

ln the accompanying drawings like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings 1 indicates a tubular supporting member adapted to be mounted on of a wind mill tower. The member 1, it will be understood, is freely rotatable with respect to the tower and forms a part of the wind mill head, which comprises a casing or housing 2 of a :form adapted to accommodate the gears and other operating mechanisms mounted on the head and also serves as a reservoir for oil used in lubricatin various bearings and bearing surfaces. xtending up from the bottom of the casing 2 is a hollow sleeve 3 open throughout its length. Said sleeve 3 is firmly supported within the casing 2 by means of a web 3a which unites the wall of the casing 2 with the upperportion of said sleeve 3 and may be cast withsaid wall and sleeve. The sleeve 3 is rigidly supported or braced on the opposite side by a shaft bearing arm 17 to be later described. The' load rod or ump rod 4 is arranged to reciprocate vertically through the hollow member 1 and the ,is a supporting sleeve 3. A'hollow housing arm 5 extends laterally from the member 1 and houses a pairv of sheaves over which passes a chain used for adjusting the vane of the wind mill. Upon a pin 6 passing through the arm 5 adjacent its'outer rim is journaled a.

sheave 7 while at its inner end, Inounted o Ir a pivot extending at right angles to the pin" 6, is .a sheave 9. A chain 8 passes through the mterior of member 1, over sheave 9, around sheave 7 and out Athrough an opening in said hollow arm. The end extending from said opening is intended to vbe connected to the vane. This chain may be manipulated by a person on the ground in order to change the angular position of the vane with respect to the direction of the wind; it forms no part of the present invention.

y Extending outwardly from the housing 2 is a hollow shaft support 10 in which the main drive shaft 11 rotates, the other end of said shaft being suitably arranged within a bearing 12 upon the opposite side of the housing 2. A portion of the wind wheel is indicated at 13, said wind wheel being secured to the outer end of the shaft 11 and a stuffing box 14 is held in place at the outer end of the supporting arm 10 by means of ounted upon the shaft 11 and arranged within the housing 2 are the gears 16 which are keyed to the shaft 11 and rotate ltherewith. Extending between said inner wall of the casing 2 and the sleeve 3 is a bearing arm 17 which is preferably cast integral both with the casing and with the sleeve 3. A half bearing 18 is formed in the upper side of the arm 17 adjacent its connection with the sleeve 3; said half bearing receives a shaft 19 to which are secured two gears 20 which have the function of a rotary lubricant carrier and of operating ears to reciprocate the load rod. The shai 19 is held in position within the bearing 18,by meansl of a spring steel clip 19, the tension of which is adjusted by means of the cap screw a at the outer end ofthe clip. From this it will be apparent that the shaft 19 will be retained in position within the babbitt lined bearing 1S. The gears 20 intermesh with the gears 16 upon the shaft 11 whereby through the rotation of the shaft 11, movement will be imparted to the gears 20.

Mounted upon the upper end of the rod 4 head 21, having upwardly 'rods are bearing sleeves 27 #which are sleeved over the crank pins 28 on the gears 20, thus connecting the shaft 24 with the gears 20.

Mounted upon the central portion of they shaft 24 is a guide roller 29 which is adapted to move within a channel 30 formed in the U-shaped upright 31,- said upright being bolted or otherwise bosses 32 on the sleeve 3. From this it will be apparent thatupon rotation of the shaft 11, movement will be imparted to the gears 20 and through the medium of the connectin rods 26, the shaft 24 will be reciprocated 1n a vertical direction within the U-shaped member 31 and as the shaft 24 is connected to the upper end of the well rod 4, the latter will be recip-i rocated therewith.

In order to provide suitable means for conveying the proper amount of lubricant to the bearings upon the shaft 24, the housing 2 is provided with a suitable amount of lubricant in which the gears 16 and 20 are partially immersed and through the rotation of the gears 20, the lubricant will be carried upwardly. Secured to the channel member 31 are the brackets 33, said brackets v having bearing ears 34 in which are mounted the shafts 35. These shafts 35 support the gears 36, the lowermost of said gears meshing with one of the gears 20 so that it will pick up a certain amount of lubricant adhering to said gear 20 and will transfer a portion thereof to the uppermost gear;

and in order to remove a portion of the lu-` bricant from the uppermost gear and convey the same to the bearings on the shaft 24, an arm 37, pivoted on a pin 42 between two ears 41, on oneof'the bearings 23, contacts with the uppermost ofthe gears 36 upon the downward stroke of the well rod picking up lubricant from said gear which will flow down the arm 37 along an offset finger 39 which is curved inwardly and' downwardly, conveying the lubricant to the central bearing 40 which supports the guide wheel 29 and as the lubricant passes through this bearing 40 it will be conveyed along thev shaft 24 toward each end thereof. The arm 37 is so mounted that its upper end is always elevated above the horizontal and is free to be elevated to a still steeper incline by contact with gear 36.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent that upon rotation of the shaft 11 through the movement of the wind wheel 13, motion will be imparted to the gears 20, carrying the lubricant from the housing 2 upwardly onto the gears 36 which 1n turn will convey the lubricant upwardly so that upon each downward stroke of the well rod 26, the outer end of the arm 37 will contact with the uppermost gear 36 and remove a `portion of the lubricant, the lubricant running inwardly upon this arm until it reaches the point where the finger 39 branches therefrom whereupon the oil or lubricant flows along said finger and -drops from the pointed end thereof to the bearing 40, the oil running throughv the bearino' 40 onto the shaft 24 and being distributed to all of the rubbing surfaces in the connection between the well rod and the connecting rod 26.

l claim:

1. The combination with a reciprocating load rod, a bearing sleeve at the upper end thereof, a transverse shaft extending through said sleeve, rotatable gears. connectlng rods between said gears and said shaft, of a train of gears mounted above one of said rotatable gears and means supported by said shaft and movable therewith through the stroke of the load rod for engagement with the uppermost of the train of gears at the completion of the downward stroke of the load rod, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a reciprocating load rod and operating gears for imparting movement to the load rod, of -a train of gears co-meshing with one ofthe aforesaid gears and means carried by the upper end of said load rod adapted to contact with the uppermost gear of the train upon the downward stroke of the load rod for receiving lubricant therefrom, as and for the purpose Bet forth.

3. The combination with a reciprocating load rod, bearings supported at the upper end of said rod, operating gears and means forming connection between the rod and operating gears to impart movement to the rod, of a trainof gears co-meshingV with one of the operatinggears, an arm extending outr wardly from one of the bearings at the up.- per end of the load rod whereby to engage the uppermost gear of the train upon the completion of the downward stroke of the ,rod for receiving lubricantand a linger-nroand the rod, of a train of gears co-mes ing with one'of said operating gears, an inclined arm supported at the upper end of the rod and adapted to engage the uppermost gear of the train upon the completion of the downward stroke of the rod for receiving lubricant therefrom and a curved finger formed upon one side of the arm adjacent incassa the inner end thereof for conveying lubricant to the load rod bearing.

5. In a wind mill lubricator, a load rod and bearing surfaces associated therewith, a lubricant carrier adapted to carry lubricant on its outer surface, a lubricant conveying arm reciprocating with the load rod inclined outward and upward therefrom, and so disposed as to contact with the lubricant carrier during the downward stroke of the load rod to receive lubricant from the carrier and convey lubricant to the bearing surfaces.

6. In a wind mill lubricator, a lubricant reservoir, a load rod, means for reciprocating said load rod, a pin and bearing connection between the upper end of the load rod and the :means for reciprocating it, endless lubricant carrying means adapted to elevate lubricant from the reservoir, and a lubricant conveying arm reciprocating with the load rod inclined outward and upward and so disposed as to contact with the endless conveying means during the downward stroke of the load rod to receive lubricant from the carrying means and convey 1ubri- .so disposed as to contact with the endless carrying means during the downward stroke of the load rod to receive lubricant from the carrying means and convey lubricant to the pin and bearing connection.

8. In a wind mill lubricator, an upright reciprocating member and bearing surfaces associated therewith, a lubricant carrier, a lubricant conveying arm reciprocating with said reciprocating member and so disposed that its outer end contacts with said lubricant carrier during a portion of the downward stroke of said member, and conveys lubricant to said bearing surfaces, said arm having the end that contacts with the lubricant carrier normally elevated above its outer end and adapted to yield upward.

9. In a wind mlll lubricator, a lubricant reservoir, a bearing therein having an open upper side above the normal lubricant level, a shaft resting in said bearing, a rotary member carried by the shaft, and adapted to dip into-the lubricant.

10. In a wind mill lubricator, a lubricant reservoir, a bearing therein having an open upper side above the normal lubricant level,

a shaft resting in said bearing, a rotary member carried by the shaft, and adapted to dip into the lubricant, and a means yieldingly pressing the shaft to its seat in the open bearing.

11. In a wind mill lubricator, a lubricant reservosagbearingvtherein having an open upper side above the normal lubricant level, a shaft/restin in said bearing, a rotary meniber carrie by the shaft and adapted to dip into the lubricant and a rotary lubricant f'carrier journaled above said bearing and pressing upon the perimeter of said rotary member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FREDERICK RITZ. 

